"My First Trip to Tampa" Manuscript

"My First Trip to Tampa" Manuscript

My First Trip to Tampa

Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941

Citrus fruit industry--Florida

Citrus--Florida

Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)

An original manuscript written by Sydney Octavius Chase about his first trip to Tampa, Florida, in 1879. The manuscript chronicles Chase's trip with topics including traveling to Florida's west coast to determine if it were a better location than Belair Grove in Sanford, traveling to Orlando to buy an ox and wagon for the trip and then deciding to continue on foot with Silas B. Carter, preparing to travel through snake country, spending a night with the Yates family near Platt Grove, camping site near the old Collins house in Tampa, Chase's purchase of land in Winter Haven years later, forgetting their powder and shot pouch on the way back to Orlando, and their safe return to Belair. Chase also discussed his second trip to Tampa a year or a year and a half later to conduct business errands for a "Mr. Ingraham," most likely referring to James Edmundson Ingraham, an entrepreneur and railroad company executive.

Chase & Company was established in 1884 by brothers Sydney Octavius Chase and Joshua Coffin Chase. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales. Chase & Company was known mainly for its agricultural interests and maintained a series of citrus groves throughout Central Florida. The company was based out of Sanford and became one of the city's largest employers into the early twentieth century. Randall Chase joined in the family business soon after his brother, Sydney Chase, Jr., did in 1922. Randall became the president of Chase & Company from 1948-1965.

Chase, Sydney Octavius

Original manuscript by Sydney Octavius Chase: "My First Trip to Tampa," 1879: box 173, folder 9.52, Chase Collection (MS 14), Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

1879

Digital reproduction of original manuscript by Sydney Octavius Chase: "My First Trip to Tampa," 1879.

Chase Collection (MS 14), box 173, folder 9.52, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Chase Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

Folder referenced in Chase Collection finding guide, http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm.

application/pdf

942 KB

6-page typewritten manuscript

eng

Text

Belair Grove, Lake Mary, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Kissimmee, Florida

Boggy Creek, Kissimmee, Florida

Davenport, Florida

Auburndale, Florida

Platt Grove, Plant City, Florida

Sixmile Creek, Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Manatee, Florida

Palmetto, Florida

Fort Meade, Florida

Bartow, Florida

Saddle Creek, Lakeland, Florida

Winter Haven, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Belair Grove, Lake Mary, Florida

Donation

History Teacher

Economics Teacher

Geography Teacher

Entire Chase Collection is comprised of four separate accessions from various donors, including Cecilia Johnson, the granddaughter of Joshua Coffin Chase and the children of Randall Chase.

The displayed collection item is housed at Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Rights to this item belong to the said institution, and therefore inquiries about the item should be directed there. RICHES of Central Florida has obtained permission from Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida to display this item for educational purposes only.

Special and Area Studies Collections, University of Florida

Digital Collections (UFDC), University of Florida

Cepero, Laura

University of Florida, Special and Area Studies Collections

"Sydney Chase Sr. (1860-1941)." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Copyright 2012. http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=600.

Warner, S.C. "Development of Marketing Citrus Fruits in Florida." Florida State Horticultural Society vol. 36 (1923): 198-200.

Hopkins, James T. Fifty Years of Citrus, the Florida Citrus Exchange: 1909-1959. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press: 1960.

6-page typewritten manuscript